Never Just A Classic Love Story
by escape4ever16
Summary: How can this tangled web of relationships work themselves out? Niff & Klaine
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Jeff had never been one to overreact. He'd found that overreacting never solved any problem. But for some reason he couldn't stop himself from knocking rapidly at Blaine's door, his heart pounding in his ears.

"Jeff?" the short, dark-haired boy asked as he opened the door.

Jeff barged through the door, pushing past Blaine. He paced back and forth ignoring Blaine's surprised and slightly concerned looks.

"What's wrong, Jeff?" Blaine asked as he shut the dorm door and sat down at the chair by his desk.

The tall blonde was muttering under his breath and Blaine caught fragments of it here and there.

"Another girl! How many has he dated this year?" Jeff continued to spit out similar phrases.

Blaine decided to wait it out. He leaned back in his chair and watched as the young Warbler walked the length of his room again and again.

It wasn't long before Blaine's door opened again and a young, dark-skinned boy walked in. He paused for a second upon spotting Jeff. He turned to Blaine. "What's he doing?"

Blaine glanced over at David briefly before saying, "He walked in here about five minutes ago and has been pacing ever since, won't tell me anything." Blaine lifted his arm and rested his elbow on the armrest of the chair, his palm resting against his neck

David sighed and moved to his bed, walking around Jeff's moving form. "This is the third time this month."

Blaine nodded absentmindedly.

None of the boys jumped or even flinched when the door burst open again and two identical masses of muscle and blonde hair poured into the room.

One of the two boys approached Jeff and slung an arm across his shoulder causing him to stop in his walking, the other sat down on the desk that Blaine was in front of.

"We heard about Nick," the boy next to Jeff said with a bright smile.

"Tough break man," the twin sitting on Blaine's desk said.

"What is going on, Evan?" Blaine asked the twin that was sitting on his desk.

"Oh, you don't know?" the other twin asked.

"Know what?" David piped up curiously, glancing between the twins and Jeff.

Jeff chose that moment to jump into the conversation, "No! You can't tell them!" he yelled looking between Evan and his brother.

"I'm surprised they haven't figured it out themselves," Evan's brother muttered.

"They can't all be genius's like us, Ethan," Evan replied.

David and Blaine looked between Ethan, Evan and Jeff their expressions showing various degrees of confusion.

"What is going on?" Blaine asked.

The twins exchanged a careful look before turning to Jeff and speaking in unison. "It's up to him."

With that ominous statement the twins left the room to go cause havoc elsewhere. The door swinging closed behind them loudly.

The roommates turned their gazes back to Jeff waiting expectantly.

Jeff took a deep breath before saying, "I like him."

Blaine glanced at David, "like who?"

The young Warbler shuffled his feet uncomfortably and mumbled to the floor, "Nick."

David made a 'ohhhh' noise and leaned back against the bed's headboard. Clearly he understood something that Blaine didn't.

"What?"

Glancing up at Blaine, Jeff spoke quickly. "I like Nick."

Blaine shook his head, "Yeah, I understood that part. The thing I don't get is the part where you're supposedly straight and the part where you have a girlfriend."

"I broke up with Julie," Jeff said with a wave of his hand.

Blaine blinked. "How long have you been gay, Jeff?" he asked.

Absentmindedly Jeff replied, "I don't know, a while?"

"That's not an answer, Jeff," Blaine said with a frown. Something wasn't right here, Blaine thought.

"I don't know if I'm gay!" Jeff blurted, finally looking Blaine in the eyes.

"You don't know if your gay but you like Nick?" David asked from his spot on the bed.

Turning to David he answered, "I don't know, I mean I know I like Nick. But he's the only guy I've ever liked…like that," Jeff trailed off.

Blaine had been worrying his lip between his teeth as he scrutinized Jeff. Finally he said, "So you're gay, but you're only gay for Nick."

"Can you be gay for only one person?" David asked with a confused look.

Jeff was staring at Blaine, "I think… maybe." Blaine could see the doubt starting to seep into Jeff's eyes.

"I don't know if you can, but I know that when you love someone you love them no questions asked," Blaine said gently. He studied Jeff and sighed. "Then why are you freaking out, Jeff?"

Jeff's eyes lightened with a passionate fire, "I'm freaking out because Nick is going on another date tonight!"

Both boys were quiet for a few seconds until David built up enough courage to ask Jeff, "But he goes on dates all the time, why are you only freaking out this time?"

"It's not just this time," Jeff said exasperatedly. "Every time he goes on a date I freak out." The young man moved to Blaine's bed and plopped down. He wrung his hands together and lowered his head, curling in on himself slightly.

"Why don't you talk to him?" David suggested softly from his seat across from him.

Jeff was already shaking his head in response. "No, I can't do that. Nick would hate me; he wouldn't be my best friend anymore. I _can't _lose him." He lowered his head into his hands.

Feeling sympathetic toward Jeff, Blaine moved forward to sit next to Jeff, throwing his arm around his shoulders. "You could never lose Nick. He cares about you a lot."

"Not the same way that I do," Jeff muttered into his hands.

Blaine and David sat in silence not really knowing what to say to make Jeff feel better. Although they didn't have to worry for long before Jeff was apologizing for bugging them and standing up to leave.

They let him go.

When the door closed shut behind him Blaine bit his lip and told himself he'd have to find a way to help Jeff.

Blaine went to sleep that night and stared at the ceiling thinking of ways to help Jeff. His thoughts got more and more carried away as he got closer to sleep. It turned into more of a sappy love movie rather then an actual plan. He drifted into the realm of unconsciousness easily his thoughts filled with classic love stories and happy endings.


	2. Chapter 2

Not even three days had gone by and Blaine still had no plan. Jeff had been wandering around moping. He couldn't be bothered to put any effort into to anything besides Warbler rehearsals and even then he lacked his usual excitement. Nick had come to him on multiple occasions wondering what was wrong with Jeff and Blaine had to give him an excuse about homework and run off to the library.

Blaine had barely been paying attention to his surroundings as he walked to the small meeting room the Warblers were using for a performance when he heard someone speaking to him.

"Excuse me. Um, hi, can I ask you a question? I'm new here." Blaine should have known as soon as he heard that perfect voice that everything was about to change, but he was still enveloped with thoughts of helping the lovesick Jeff that he didn't register what his beating heart was telling him.

Blaine looked up into the most beautiful pair of eyes he'd ever seen. His body went on autopilot; he talked but he barely registered the words. Jeff and his problems quickly fled from his mind.

"My name is Blaine," Blaine said despite feeling like he was about to faint. He offered his hand for the young man to shake.

"Kurt," he responded. His hand slipped into Blaine's easily and squeezed slightly before pulling away. Blaine decided he loved holding his hand.

"So what exactly is going on?" he asked glancing around at the boys passing down the stairs all heading in the same direction.

"The Warblers!" Blaine jumped at the chance to talk about something that was easy and required the smallest amount of thought process. "Every now and then they throw an impromptu performance in the senior commons. It tends to shut the school down for a while," Blaine rambled off.

"So wait, the Glee club here is kind of cool?" he asked a little disbelieving.

"The Warblers are like…rock stars," Blaine managed to smile at him. Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"Come on, I know a short cut," Blaine said when Kurt still looked like he didn't believe him. He grabbed his hand again because he wanted to feel his soft skin. He hoped that didn't make Kurt think he was weird or creepy.

Blaine pulled him down a deserted hallway. In the back of his mind he was hoping Wes wouldn't yell at him for almost being late but the better half of his brain was reveling in the fact that there was an amazingly hot boy running next to him.

Blaine tugged Kurt into the common room that was crowded with boys all pushing chairs and desks out of the way. He noticed Wes giving him a stern glance, but ignored it and turned back to Kurt when he spoke.

"Oh, I stick out like a sore thumb," he mumbled looking around.

"Well next time don't forget your jacket, new kid," Blaine allowed himself to touch the front of Kurt's jacket gently, "You'll fit right in."

Wes gave him another warning glance and Blaine knew he had to start soon or he'd hear about it later. "Now if you'll excuse me," Blaine said with a smile as he backed up to join the other Warblers forming into a unified group.

Blaine watched with a spark of pride that Kurt looked very impressed with the performance. He was clearly caught of guard, but he was soon swaying to the song slightly with a smile. Blaine tried to convince himself that, that had nothing to do with the fact he was singing Teenage Dream right to him, but a little bubble of hope sprung up in his chest.

Blaine was never more comfortable than when he was performing with the Warblers. They were his family and it was always like he was coming home when he sang with them. It was easy for him to commit the steps to memory and the lyrics came naturally, giving him plenty of time to send many flirty glances Kurt's way.

After the performance Blaine moved to mingle with the other Warblers. High-fiving and patting backs, all the while, Blaine kept an eye on Kurt. He noticed the way he seemed to shrink back once everyone was leaving in pairs or groups and talking animatedly about the performance. Blaine excused himself from the conversation and was mere feet away from Kurt when Wes and David tugged him aside.

Blaine was expecting the usual speech about tardiness from Wes and was surprised when all he brought up was the fact that he'd brought a spy to a performance.

"Just what exactly do you think you're doing, Blaine?" Wes asked vehemently. Blaine raised and eyebrow, "he is not what you think he is."

"Then what is he?" Wes whispered trying to keep a low profile.

"Clearly the worst spy ever," David cut in with a small smile. He shrugged off Wes's incredulous look.

"Oh, come on, look at him! If he is here to spy then… then the Tweedles will burst through the room with swords yelling about Dwight being a ninja or something," David said with a shrug.

No sooner had he spoken then the two brothers burst into the room, brandishing nerf guns in the air and yelling about Dwight really being a demon. Wes's jaw almost hit the ground and he turned to look at David.

David was trying not to laugh and had his lips pressed together in a straight line. "Okay, for one, they have nerf guns not swords and they think Dwight is a demon not a ninja," David said. "Clearly, he is not a spy."

Wes frowned at David wanting to contradict him but also knowing that he didn't want an argument. Wes sighed in defeat after a minute-long stare off with David.

Blaine had turned back to watching Kurt halfway through the conversation and jumped back in just as Wes was giving in.

"Hey guys? Regardless of why he's here I think we should talk to him," Blaine said with a slightly begging edge to his voice.

David agreed quickly with a nod and Wes, not wanting to let the spy out of his line of vision, nodded along. He gestured for Blaine to lead the way since it was, in fact, his idea.

"Uh, Kurt," Blaine said as he approached the distracted boy again. Kurt turned and felt his heart flutter slightly at the sight of Blaine there. His eyes slid from Blaine's kind, brown eyes to the forms of two boys behind him. He felt like shrinking back slightly as he instinctually took notice of the three-strong unit the young Dalton boys had compared with his meager frame of a body.

Blaine's eyes softened even more, if possible, as he noted the wary looks he was sending Wes and David's way.

"Come on, I'll get you a coffee," Blaine said with a gentle, reassuring smile.

Kurt agreed politely. He felt slightly claustrophobic with the two boys trailing behind him. What if this was all a ploy? A way to get him alone before beating him up. Kurt's back was stiff as he followed Blaine into another wonderfully furnished room. A coffee machine stood at the ready to the side. Blaine gestured for Kurt to take a seat with a soft, "make yourself at home."

Multiple scenarios ran through Kurt's mind as he gingerly perched on the edge of his seat. None of them turned out well for him.

Blaine returned a couple moments later, two coffee cups in hand. He set Kurt's down in front of him before taking a seat. Wes and David flanked his sides.

Kurt leaned forward and wrapped his hand around the only familiar thing near him, a cup of coffee. It was something he knew. Something that wouldn't hurt him.

"Thank you," Kurt spoke delicately.

Blaine shrugged it off and took a sip of the hot liquid before setting it down to study Kurt. Wes shared a glance with David, so this guys name was Kurt. He certainly looked… innocent.

"It's very courteous of you to treat me so well before beating me up for spying," Kurt said primly.

Wes spoke up then, "We're not going to beat you up, Kurt." He glanced at David and gave him a look that said 'told you he was a spy.' David rolled his eyes in response.

David nodded in agreement with Wes's words, "And you were such a bad spy," another annoyed glance sent in Wes's direction, "that we found it kind of endearing." David smiled.

"Which made me think that spying wasn't really the reason you came," Blaine said with a small smile of his own.

Kurt sighed and relaxed back against his chair, oblivious to the silent communication going on at the other side of the table.

Blaine tilted his head to the side, watching Kurt's reaction closely.

"Can I… ask you guys a question?" Kurt said tentatively. "Are… you guys all gay?" Kurt was slightly taken aback when Blaine was the one to snicker at him first the other two following not far behind.

"Uh, no," Blaine said still chuckling a little. "I mean I am," Blaine gestured to himself quickly before pointing to Wes and David, "but these two have girlfriends."

Kurt raised an eyebrow slightly embarrassed and grabbed his coffee cup to distract himself from the slight blush creeping up his neck.

David leaned forward, "This is not a gay school we just have a zero tolerance harassment policy."

Wes jumped in, "Everybody gets treated the same, no matter what they are," he admitted.

Kurt felt the swell of emotion wash over him and he looked back down at the table. He wished so badly that he could feel as secure as they did. They didn't have to worry. They were _safe_.

Blaine tilted his head to the side, watching Kurt.

"Wes, David, could you excuse us?" Blaine asked, his eyes never leaving Kurt's form.

Wes and David exchanged one last look before grabbing their coffees and leaving. Blaine was silent for a minute more.

"I take it your having trouble in school," Blaine said.

"I am… the only person out of the closet at my school. And I try to stay strong about it but there is this neanderthal who's made his mission to make my life a living hell and nobody seems to notice," Kurt shrugged helplessly.

"I know how you feel," Blaine nodded. "I got taunted at my old school and it really… pissed me off. I even complained to the faculty, they were sympathetic and all, but I mean you could just tell, nobody _really _cared. It was like… hey, if you're gay, your life is going to be miserable. Sorry, nothing we can do about it." Blaine took a breath. "So I left… and came here," Blaine gestured to the school he was in. "Simple as that," Blaine said quietly.

Kurt's expressions varied as he listened to Blaine. He was feeling more and more helpless as he continued. There really was no hope for him.

"So you have two options here," Blaine said leaning forward eagerly. He could help someone. Help someone not make the mistakes he made.

"I'd love to tell you to just enroll here, but tuition at Dalton is kind of steep and I know that's not an option for everybody. Or, you can refuse to be the victim. Prejudice is just ignorance, Kurt. You have a chance right now to teach him."

"How?" Kurt said quietly.

"Confront him, call him out. I ran, Kurt. I didn't stand up. I let bullies chase me away and it is something I really, _really _regret," Blaine said earnestly.

Kurt nodded slightly letting Blaine know that he heard him out and he'd think on it. Think on everything. Mostly the way Blaine's eye gleamed when he started talking about something he was very passionate about.

After a few more sips of coffee amid small talk they exchanged phone numbers. Kurt with the promise to check in, Blaine with the reminder that he was there for Kurt if he ever needed a friend to talk to.

Kurt thanked him and decided he'd stayed long enough at Dalton. Blaine graciously walked him out to his car. Kurt's heart didn't flutter at all when the back of Blaine's hand brushed his as they walked. Or when Blaine said he'd talk to Kurt soon before closing the driver's side door for Kurt. It didn't flutter at all…. Well maybe a little. Or maybe a lot.

The ride home for Kurt was long, but useful. It gave him time to ponder Dalton, Blaine, and his tormenter without being distracted.

Blaine went to sleep that night with thoughts of Kurt swimming through his head; he already couldn't wait to see him again. What was even better was that, when he woke up, he thought he knew of a way he could help Jeff.


	3. Chapter 3

**Well it's been awhile since I've been here… sorry about that. Life got insanely busy. But I'm returning and hopefully I'll be able to get back to this story in my spare time. **

"Jeff!" Blaine yelled as he ran up to him in the halls later that morning.

"Hey, Blaine," Jeff mumbled sullenly.

"Quick, Nick's walking this way," Blaine said excitedly.

Jeff's back straightened up comically fast and his expression switched from mopey to happy in an instant as he looked around quickly for Nick. It only took a couple seconds for him to realize Nick was nowhere to be seen. He punched Blaine in the shoulder as he slouched again and his face fell. "Not funny, man." He closed his locker before turning and walking away from Blaine down the hallway.

Blaine immediately felt guilty for his little trick, "Aw, come on, Jeff. Look, I'm sorry. I have good news though," Blaine said as he fell into step beside him.

"Sure," Jeff mumbled, his face falling back into the permanent frown he'd had for the past few days.

"I mean it. I think I know how I can help you with Nick. See all you have to do, is get into a situation where you can find out if Nick might be interested. Jeff, are you listening?" Blaine asked.

Jeff was walking along listlessly. He made a small grunt of confirmation.

Blaine shrugged to himself and hoped Jeff liked his idea. "You know the dance we have coming up? And you know how the Tweedles always throw that crazy party afterwards? And you know how they always try to get everyone to play spin the bottle and no one agrees?" Blaine asked.

"Whats this got to do with Nick?" he asked.

"I want you to say yes to the game. And then I when you start the game, I want you to spin the bottle and have it land on anyone BUT Nick," Blaine said.

"Isn't that the opposite of what I'm trying to achieve?" Jeff asked with a small blush, becoming more confused with the plan.

"No, because you don't know if Nick even has gay tendencies. So what you do is judge his reaction from you kissing someone else. This way, you don't have to even talk to Nick directly and you get more information. And hey, you get to have some fun. You need to loosen up a little, Nick knows somethings wrong," Blaine said as he nudged Jeff's side.

Jeff was quiet as they walked down the hall. Just before they reached their first period class Jeff came to a stop. "I'll think about it, okay? No promises."

Blaine grinned and nodded, "No problem. Whatever you want to do. And if this doesn't work, we can always think of something else."

"Thanks, Blaine," Jeff said quietly with a small smile of thanks before they both filed into class as the first warning bell rang.

"I'll do it," Jeff said, almost yelling it as he barged into Blaine's dorm room a few days later.

Blaine leaned back in his chair, a little shocked by the sudden anger he could feel coming off Jeff in waves. "What happened?"

"He snuck her into our room last night and I had to listen to her giggling at every single word he said," Jeff gritted out, looking ready to punch someone.

Blaine frowned, "Didn't he ask you if you were cool with her being in there?"

"Yes," he said as he started pacing again, too much wound up energy coursing through his veins.

"Then why didn't you say no?" Blaine asked confused.

"Because he was begging me and he gave me the puppy dog eyes and I just-" Jeff stopped pacing and fell back onto Blaine's bed with a huff. "I can't stand it when he uses the puppy dog eyes on me."

Blaine frowned, "Nick has horrible puppy dog eyes, everyone knows that."

Jeff groaned and rolled over, stuffing his face in one of the pillows. "I know," he said, his voice getting muffled by the pillow.

"Then why-"

"Because it's cute that he tries so hard even when he knows he's bad at it," Jeff said as he turned his head to the side.

"Ah." Blaine nodded. "You've got it bad, don't you?" he asked a moment later.

Jeff nodded pathetically and groaned again before stuffing his face under the pillow. "Don't remind me."

Blaine turned back to his homework, hoping that everything would work out well. He hated the idea of Nick and Jeff ending their friendship. It would change the dynamic of their whole group. Surely Nick had some sort of harbored feelings for Jeff, if only they could just get him riled up about it. That dance needed to hurry up and get here so he could get his friends back to normal and if they were lucky, a little bit more than normal.


	4. Chapter 4

It wasn't long before Blaine convinced Jeff to let him tell the other Warblers what was going on between him and Nick. Blaine got them all together in a spare classroom and told everyone the situation, giving Jeff support as he came out to his group of close friends. As Blaine predicted, some were surprised, but all were supportive. Jeff's eyes watered as his friends patted his back and told him that they were all still friends, of course, why wouldn't they be? Blaine smiled at that, and his thoughts trailed to Kurt for a moment, thinking about how he didn't have this. He didn't have a wonderful group of friends and a safety net to fall back on. At least, it didn't look like it to him. He put thoughts of Kurt aside for the moment, wanting to focus on Jeff's problem.

"Alright, so now what we need to do is figure out if Nick has any romantic feelings toward Jeff," Blaine explained to the group. "And this is where the Tweedles come into the plan.

"When they throw their annual party after the dance next week and suggest that we all play spin the bottle, we're going to agree," Blaine said, earning some protests from the straight guys.

"Come on, guys, for Jeff. And you know that the Tweedles will have something to loosen you up if you so choose. Besides, we're all friends here, it's no big deal. This is for Nick and Jeff," Blaine said.

A few grumbled but agreed with the plan. Blaine was surprised when Thad raised a hand up in the air. "If we're trying to make Nick jealous or something, doesn't it make sense to bring in some friends of ours that could act as if they are infatuated with Jeff? You know, come on to him and try to ask him out?" he asked.

Blaine was surprised at the clever thinking on Thad's point. "That's a good idea. Okay, everyone has to find someone to bring with them to the party that is willing to act infatuated with Jeff."

"Does it have to be a guy?" Someone asked.

"No, it can be a girl. Nick still doesn't know that Jeff is gay so it might look more normal if there are some girls, plus I know you guys want them around for spin the bottle," Blaine said.

Jeff had been blushing more and more as the conversation continued, amazed at how quickly his friends were willing to help despite their ideas being a little crazy.

"Sound like a plan to you?" Blaine asked.

Jeff nodded and thanked his friends again, all of them waving off his thanks with smiles.

"You and Nicky belong together, Jeffery, " Evan said as he slung an arm around Jeff's shoulders.

"And we're willing to do anything to get you two lovebirds to realize that," Ethan said with a nod. Jeff laughed and thanked them again.

Slowly their meeting ended and people began to file back out of the room, oblivious to Nick watching them leave from down the hall behind a statue, confused and hurt as to why his friends had been having a meeting without him.

**Later that night….**

"Jeff?" Nick asked from across the room.

"Yeah?" Jeff looked up from his history text book slowly.

"You'd tell me if something was going on, right? I mean, just with you or…" Nick trailed off, not really know how to voice his thoughts.

Jeff paused and lowered his book, "Yeah. Of course, Nick," he reassured him, hoping the lie didn't sound as fake as it felt.

Nick nodded, "Alright, yeah." He shook his head and laughed at himself slightly, "Sorry, don't know what's gotten into me. I'm going to go take a shower."

"Okay," Jeff said softly as Nick collected his pj's and a towel before disappearing into the bathroom. He frowned to himself, hating that he was lying to his best friend about his feelings.

Jeff slept uneasily that night, listening to Nick's breathing from across the room, which usually lulled him straight to sleep, but tonight it seemed to be keeping him up instead. Nick and him had been best friends since they were kids, they'd grown up in the same neighborhood, their parents were in the same social circle and their moms had shopping dates at least once a month to catch up. He didn't want to think about what would happen if this ended badly. If he lost Nick altogether just because he wanted him a little bit closer.

Curling up under his blanket, Jeff closed his eyes and tried to ignore everything. He had a Chemistry test in the morning and he needed his rest, but Nick started to snore lightly and Jeff's eyes refused to close. He shrugged off Nick's questions the next more when he noticed his blood-shot and tired eyes. He almost wished things would go back to how they were before, when he only thought of Nick as a friend. It was easier that way.

**Warblers practice that afternoon…**

"Thad, can I ask you a quick question?" Nick asked, leading them over to a corner of the room during a small break in practice.

"Yeah, sure."

"Do you know if there's anything wrong with Jeff?" he asked in a whisper, glancing over his shoulder to make sure there was no one around to hear him.

Thad seemed surprised that Nick would be asking him that. "Why are you asking me? He's your best friend," he said.

Nick felt even more uneasy at Thad's words. "Did I do something to offend him? We've haven't hung out in weeks and he barely talks to me anymore and when he does it's like he's running on auto-pilot or something," Nick said, surprising himself at how desperate he sounded.

Thad raised an eyebrow, "I think if you guys are having that big of an issue that you should just talk to him about it."

Sighing, Nick ran a hand through his hair and nodded, "Alright, yeah, you're right. Thanks, man." Nick looked like he was about to run off and grab the next Warbler in the room to interrogate them as well so Thad set his hands on Nick's shoulders.

"I'm not kidding, Nick. Talk. To. Him. None of us are going to say anything to you about what Jeff is dealing with."

"So there is something wrong?" Nick asked hurriedly, his eyes looking at Thad frantically.

Thad frowned, "Man, you are so blind. Just talk to him," Thad said dismissively and almost with an air of anger around him that shocked Nick before he stepped around Nick and walked over to David. Thad and him had always been good friends. Something must be terribly wrong. Maybe… maybe he should talk to Jeff.

Luckily, Nick was oblivious to the way the rest of the group kept glancing at him, curious as to what he'd said to Thad.

Once practice was over, Nick tried to catch up with Jeff, hoping to ask him if they could go to their room and talk, but Jeff practically ran from the rehearsal space. Nick frowned, how was he supposed to talk to him when it looked like he didn't want to talk?

Nick went back to their room and noticed that Jeff's uniform was hastily thrown across his bed and his soccer bag was gone. That wasn't a good sign.

While Dalton had a soccer team, it was currently getting closer to December and their season had just ended, leaving Jeff without his favorite physical outlet. During the off-season Jeff constantly went back out to the empty soccer field and practiced or sometimes he went out there to run sprints. The only other reason Jeff went out to practice during the off-season was when he was really upset about something. And judging by the hastily thrown uniform on the bed, it was one of those days.

Nick cursed himself for not remembering a jacket as he walked out to the soccer field. It looked like snow as going to come early this year if it kept up this track of cold weather.

He could see Jeff out on the field, juggling with the ball and doing a bunch of complicated tricks that Nick knew he'd never be able to do. He was a swimmer and lacrosse player; soccer was never something he'd been any good at. No matter how many times Jeff tried to convince him to join a team while they were growing up he always said no. Besides, it was Jeff's thing and he liked going to his games and cheering on his best friend.

Nick took his time as he walked closer, knowing that Jeff liked to be alone while he played. He walked up slowly behind him, where Jeff had now switched to taking shots at the goal.

"How did your Chemistry test go?" Nick asked in a louder voice so that he would be sure Jeff would hear him. He couldn't think of any other way to start this conversation because he didn't know what was wrong, or if Jeff even wanted him to try and fix it. Or even if it could be fixed.

Jeff had stopped practicing and he turned to Nick slowly, "What are you doing out here?" he asked confused, sweat covering his forehead and his breaths coming a little faster from exertion.

"Asking you how your Chemistry test went," Nick said slowly.

"It went fine," Jeff responded, giving Nick an odd look.

"That's good." Nick wanted to yell from frustration, one of his favorite parts about his friendship with Jeff was that there were never any awkward pauses or silences. Even when there were silences they were always comfortable. But now Nick didn't know what had changed between them, but something definitely had.

"You've been upset about something and I want to know if I have anything to do with it," Nick blurted out a moment later when the silence kept dragging on, driving him crazy.

Jeff was shaking his head, "I haven't been upset."

"That's not true," Nick said with a firm shake of his head. "What happened, Jeff? You never lie to me and now you think you can tell me that you haven't been upset. You haven't even really spoken to me in almost a month, man!" He was getting upset now, all of his frustrations bubbling to the surface.

Head lowered and looking at the ground Jeff shook his head just slightly. "I'm not… I'm not upset with you." It wasn't technically a lie… he was upset with the girl Nick was dating, but not with Nick.

"Then what's wrong? Because something isn't right. You're hardly ever in our room except to sleep and study. I had to find out from the Tweedles that you've been spending all your time in Blaine's room," Nick said with a huff of annoyance. "I thought we were friends."

"We are," Jeff said quickly, taking a step closer. He reached up and ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "Look, it's complicated and I'm dealing with it. I just, you have to give me some time."

"Why does everyone seem to know what's going on you with, but me?" Nick asked.

Jeff had no reply to that so he just stayed quiet, biting his lip slightly, his old habits coming back from his childhood. "I need time," Jeff said again.

Nick sighed in frustration and finally decided to give up for the day. Jeff oblivious wasn't ready to tell him what was going on. "Okay, fine. Jeff, you know that I'm here for you right? We're best friends."

Unfortunately that didn't seem to get quite the response he was looking for because Jeff's face hardened just slightly and he nodded, "Yeah, I know. Thanks."

"I'll see you back at the room," Nick mumbled before he turned and walked hastily back to their room, shivering under his thin t-shirt, hands stuffed in his pockets.

His best friend watched him go before turning around and kicking the soccer in frustration, sending it flying over the net and into the bushes. Jeff made a loud noise of irritation before beginning to do sprints up and down the length of the soccer field, not stopping until his legs couldn't hold him up anymore.

Nick was asleep by the time Jeff made it back to their room, at least that's what Jeff thought. He was laying in bed with his back turned to the rest of the room and his breathing was quiet and even. Jeff stripped off his sweat soaked clothes without hesitation, he'd stopped caring about changing in front of Nick years ago, and while he typically didn't do it nearly as much since he'd discovered his feelings it didn't seem to matter since Nick couldn't see him right then anyway.

Except that Nick wasn't asleep and he could see Jeff. Well, he could when Jeff turned to walk into the bathroom, his back to the rest of the room. Nick glanced over his shoulder to see a very shapely ass disappearing inside the bathroom before the door closed. His eyebrows shot up and he sucked in a sharp breath as he stared at the door where Jeff had just been. Well that was interesting. Nick shook himself out of it and shrugged it off; the sudden nudity had just surprised him is all. That's why his heart had sped up and his hands were suddenly clammy.

He fell asleep before Jeff was even out of the shower. The last thought he had before he fell asleep being something along the lines of 'when did Jeff start working out _that _part of his body?'


	5. Chapter 5

Thursday and Friday passed quickly and there was another change with Jeff that Nick noticed almost immediately. Jeff was suddenly around a lot more. Hanging out in their room during free time and playing games on his computer when he was bored or ignoring his homework. All the things he used to do up until about a month ago.

While Nick was happy to have Jeff around again, he was also worried that he'd somehow forced Jeff to do this. Sure, Jeff smiled and talked to Nick just like he normally would before all the weirdness started happening, but he couldn't help wondering if it was all fake. He wanted to believe that things could just go back to normal, but he knew it wasn't from the way Jeff spaced out a lot and the way he got this sad look on his face sometimes. Like he was disappointed. Nick couldn't help thinking it was because of him and he hated that idea.

The weekend was uneventful. Nick spent the time lazing around and watching tv and finishing up some assignments. Jeff, however, was barely there. Nick wondered about where he went, but when he asked Jeff all he said was that he had gone on a walk.

Nick let it slide and tried not to let it bother him.

It wasn't until Sunday that Jeff actually initiated a conversation with him. "So, the dance is coming up this week. You're going right?" Jeff asked, trying not to make a big deal out of it.

Nick shrugged, "Yeah, I figured I'd go with Serena, seeing as she goes to the sisterschool and all and those are the only girls invited unless you want to go through that bloody paperwork they have," he said.

Jeff tried not to tense up at the mention of Serena, but it proved to be a very difficult task. He'd been getting better at schooling his expressions though and he nodded, "Ah. Sounds like fun. And you're coming to the Tweedles after party right?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Nick replied. "Are you going?"

"What?" Jeff asked distractedly before the words caught up with him, "Oh, yeah. I'm actually, thinking of bringing someone with me," he said without thinking. His eyes widened slightly and he was screaming at himself on the inside, wondering what the hell was wrong with him that he would blurt _that _out in front of Nick.

"Really? Who? I didn't know you were dating anyone," Nick said, looking at Jeff with interest.

"W-well, I'm not really. I mean we just sort of met and she's nice." Jeff's voice faded slightly as he fumbled over his words, "I think."

Nick was oblivious to Jeff's lie, thinking it to just be nerves. Maybe this is what he's been hiding from me all this time, Nick thought.

"What's her name?"

"Um, Mary?" Jeff nearly slapped himself for making it sound like a question.

"Hmm, I don't think I've ever met a girl from the sisterschool named Mary. What's her last name?" he asked.

"O-oh, she doesn't go to the sisterschool. S-she's, um, from out of town," Jeff lied, biting the inside of his mouth and begging himself to stop lying.

Nick raised an eyebrow at that, "how did you meet her?"

"Oh, you know. Around," Jeff said with a nod.

Nick grinned and laughed, " Alright, you just keep it a secret. I'll find out eventually. Yeah, you should bring her to the party, I'd love to meet her."

"Okay," Jeff said faintly. "I'm g-gonna go, get some food," Jeff said quickly before turning and bolting out of the room, leaning against the wall outside their room. He hit his head against the wall a few times, groaning as he did and cursing himself. "Why, why, why did I say those things?" Jeff asked himself. He quickly turned and made a beeline to Blaine's room, he needed help desperately.

"Oh, come on, mauve is such a great color," Blaine said into his phone, twirling a pencil in one hand as he smiled to himself.

"_Yes, but not when you match it with the rusty brown she was wearing. I swear, Blaine, the next time I see her I'm getting her tested for color blindness."_

Blaine laughed and grinned as he listened to Kurt rave and rant about his friend's latest wardrobe catastrophe.

At least, he _was _smiling until his door burst open and Jeff ran inside, yelling something about how stupid he was and a girl named Mary. Kurt had stopped talking on the other end of the line when he heard the noise. "_Is everything okay?"_

Blaine shushed Jeff quickly with a frown, "Sorry, that's a friend of mine. Kurt, do you mind if I call you back?" Kurt was gracious as ever and Blaine grinned dopily into the receiver before saying goodbye and hanging up.

"Okay, what's the problem?" Blaine asked with a sigh as he set his phone aside.

Jeff launched right into re-telling the events of the past 15 minutes and Blaine had to stop him and slow him down occasionally when he got too worked up over it.

"Why did you ever start that lie?" Blaine asked. "Why would you tell him you were brining someone?"

"Because he started talking about him taking Serena to the dance and I just got upset and I didn't know what to do. I panicked! So I told him that I met a girl out of town called Mary and that I was… bringing her… to the party," Jeff slowed down as he heard his words playing back to himself and he realized just how terrible it sounded.

Jeff groaned and slumped down onto Blaines bed, "Oh, this is terrible. I really messed things up now. And I'm going to have to tell him that I lied and made it up, and then what is he going to think of me? He already knows I'm keeping things from him." Jeff would have kept going if Blaine hadn't cut him off and done his best to calm him down.

Blaine sighed, "You really made a mess out of this though." His eyes landed on his phone and he got another idea. "Okay, how about this? If I get a girl to come to the party and pretend to be Mary would you do that?" Blaine asked.

Jeff gave Blaine a long look, "You can do that?"

"I believe I can."

Suddenly Blaine's arms were full of Jeff as he hugged him tightly. "Oh, thank you thank you, thank you!" he said. "Blaine you're the best!"

"Yeah, yeah, just don't let Nick get to you like that anymore, I can only do so much damage control."

Jeff nodded before thanking Blaine again. Blaine eventually kicked Jeff out, tired of hearing his thanks over and over again.

He picked up his phone again once he was alone and called Kurt back. "Hey, yeah, I have a favor to ask you…"

**Three days till the dance… **

"He won't shut up about her and I feel like I'm losing my mind," Jeff whined, pacing back and forth in front of Blaine.

"You really need to stop barging in here uninvited every time you get frustrated," Blaine said, his chin in his hand, barely paying attention to Jeff.

Jeff ranted on as if he hadn't even heard Blaine speak. "And every time he answers his phone it's _her _on the other line and I swear to god if I hear her giggle one more time I'm just going t-" Jeff cut off mid-rant as the door burst open again and the Tweedles ran inside, hiding inside Blaine and David's closet.

"Yes, please come in. It's not like this is a personal space or anything," Blaine said sourly as he watched the happenings going on around him.

"Anyway," Jeff said as he was about to continue before the door opened again and Thad was standing in the doorway, chest heaving and a murderous look on his face. "Where are they?" He asked with a growl.

"Closet," Blaine said in a bored tone.

"_Blaine!_" Two voices called out behind the door of his closet, obviously upset. Evan poked his head out, "You ruined our fun."

"You two!" Thad yelled as he ran at the closet door, banging against it madly.

"Yup, I'm leaving," Blaine mumbled as he stood up and tried to sneak out of his room without anyone noticing. "Blaine!" Jeff yelled, following after him quickly once he realized he was leaving.

Blaine groaned and almost hit his head against the wall in annoyance. "Yes?"

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go away. I need some peace and quiet, Jeff. You'll be fine, okay? Relax. Go for a run or something," Blaine said before turning and leaving.

Jeff found himself walking around aimlessly after Blaine left. He'd finished his homework hours ago and didn't really want to go back to his room and see Nick there texted his almost-girlfriend.

God just the thought of her made his blood boil and his stomach twist into knots. He didn't know if he could handle it if Nick made Serena his girlfriend. Jeff sighed and tried to hope that Blaine's plan would work out.

**Two days till the dance…**

"Walk me through the plan one more time?" Jeff asked.

"There isn't much to walk through, Jeff. Kurt is coming to the party and he's bringing your date, Rachel, who has kindly agreed to pretend to be Mary," Blaine said.

Jeff nodded, "And then hopefully Nick reacts to the spin the bottle game."

"Exactly."

"Okay, I can do this," Jeff said as he shook out his arms and tried to get rid of all his excess energy.

"At the very least, Jeff, it'll be a fun night out with friends," Blaine said as he tried to reassure him.

"Yeah, but Nick will be there and every time I see him I get all… flustered and self-conscious."

"That's the price of liking someone." Blaine shrugged.

"Do you like Kurt?"

….

"Do you?"

"Don't tell Kurt," Blaine said with a begging edge to his voice. "He needs me to be his friend right now, not anything more."

Jeff nodded and promised not to say anything.

Unrequited love really sucked.

**The day before the dance…**

"You look very dashing," Blaine complimented as Jeff showed him the suit he was wearing to the dance.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, and those pants make your ass look good."

"Really?" Jeff asked as he lifted up the tail of his jacket and tried to see for himself.

Blaine nodded, "Yup, definitely. The girls at this dance will go crazy."

"Too bad those aren't the ones I'm trying to impress," Jeff mumbled as he turned forward and adjusted his collar for the millionth time.

"Maybe all the flattery will help your confidence. Make you more bold," Blaine said.

Jeff turned away from the mirror and sat on the bed with a small sigh. "Do you think I'm going about this the wrong way? I mean… should I come out to Nick first? Before all of this? What if he treats me different because he finds out I'm gay?"

Leaning forward earnestly Blaine shook his head, "He won't treat you differently, Jeff. You're his best friend, he'll accept you no matter what. And I think that this is pretty harmless, you are just getting a feel for the situation and what Nick's feelings are for you. If he gets jealous and protective of you then you might have a shot. But, Jeff? I don't want you to put all your hope into this. He is straight, as far as anyone knows. I'd hate to see you get hurt because of something that you can't change and something that Nick can't control," Blaine said slowly, choosing his words with care.

Nodding slowly Jeff stood up and brushed his hands over the front of his suit again. "Yeah, I know this is a long shot. But I have to try."

"The Warblers are here for you, if you need us," Blaine said, wanting to be sure that Jeff knew he had their support.

"You guys are the best, you know that?"

"Yeah, but don't tell the twins that, it'll go straight to their heads," Blaine smiled.

Jeff grinned and nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yup, I'll have my dancing shoes on," Blaine said with a nod. Jeff left to go back to his room and take off his suit before Nick came back from his studying and Blaine settled back into his chair to call Kurt. They'd been having daily phone calls for a couple weeks so far, always at the same time. 3:30. It was the perfect balance between when school ended and when Blaine's Warbler rehearsals were. Kurt always answered the phone on the first ring and if he couldn't answer the phone that day he was quick to text Blaine to let him know. Today was different.

Kurt never picked up.

Not after the first, second, fifth or seventh time that Blaine called. Not even after Blaine texted him over and over again.

Somehow, Blaine just knew Kurt was in trouble.

It only took a few seconds to look up the phone number to the Hummel Repair Shop and a couple minutes more to speak with one of the mechanics on the phone to ask where Mr. Hummel was and discover that he was at the local hospital in Lima.

Blaine was out the door and in his car before he'd even hung up the phone.


End file.
